Abstract
Abstract
Background
The Honest Broker Service (HBS) (2016), offered by the Health and Social
Care Business Services Organisation, facilitates access to health and social care data. Datasets have been imported to the data warehouse where they are pseudonymised, anonymised and linked to other datasets, if requested. A fee
is charged at a daily rate (Sinclair, 2015).
Online application process
Online application requesting access to linked data from the Northern Ireland Maternity System (NIMATS) and the Electronic Prescribing Database (EPD) was made to the HBS. NIMATS records medical, social, previous pregnancy, present pregnancy, labour, birth and postnatal details. The EPD records dispensed prescription medication. Ethical approval from the University and the Office for Research Ethics Committees Northern Ireland (ORECNI) was granted. The HBS provided mandatory Safe Researcher Training. The application was approved by the HBS Governance Board.
Data Access
Data were available in the Safe Haven, a secure room within the HBS, where no internet or telephone access is permitted. Data were supplied in two Excel files. Multiple conditions were presented as multiple lines of data. These needed condensed into one line and exported into the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS, 2013). Although NIMATS contains pre-defined categories for data collection, much of the information was stored in free text fields, which required categorisation. SPSS syntax was used to merge both datasets for statistical analysis. To preserve confidentiality, results with less than 10 cases could not be reported separately.
Outcome
The data retrieved from the HBS have proved invaluable as a phase of a research
study which informed subsequent phases. It is important to note the levels of application and ethical approval, the need to have prior knowledge of Excel, SPSS and data linkage and the lengthy process of accessing, recoding and
reclassifying free text into a format suitable for analysis.
Background
The Honest Broker Service (HBS) (2016), offered by the Health and Social
Care Business Services Organisation, facilitates access to health and social care data. Datasets have been imported to the data warehouse where they are pseudonymised, anonymised and linked to other datasets, if requested. A fee
is charged at a daily rate (Sinclair, 2015).
Online application process
Online application requesting access to linked data from the Northern Ireland Maternity System (NIMATS) and the Electronic Prescribing Database (EPD) was made to the HBS. NIMATS records medical, social, previous pregnancy, present pregnancy, labour, birth and postnatal details. The EPD records dispensed prescription medication. Ethical approval from the University and the Office for Research Ethics Committees Northern Ireland (ORECNI) was granted. The HBS provided mandatory Safe Researcher Training. The application was approved by the HBS Governance Board.
Data Access
Data were available in the Safe Haven, a secure room within the HBS, where no internet or telephone access is permitted. Data were supplied in two Excel files. Multiple conditions were presented as multiple lines of data. These needed condensed into one line and exported into the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS, 2013). Although NIMATS contains pre-defined categories for data collection, much of the information was stored in free text fields, which required categorisation. SPSS syntax was used to merge both datasets for statistical analysis. To preserve confidentiality, results with less than 10 cases could not be reported separately.
Outcome
The data retrieved from the HBS have proved invaluable as a phase of a research
study which informed subsequent phases. It is important to note the levels of application and ethical approval, the need to have prior knowledge of Excel, SPSS and data linkage and the lengthy process of accessing, recoding and
reclassifying free text into a format suitable for analysis.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 05 Apr 2017 |
| Event | Royal College of Nursing Research Conference: RCN International Nursing Research Conference 2017 - University of Oxford Examination Schools, Oxford, United Kingdom Duration: 05 Apr 2017 → 07 Apr 2017 |
Conference
| Conference | Royal College of Nursing Research Conference |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| City | Oxford |
| Period | 05/04/2017 → 07/04/2017 |